Detarru Island

by Mickey Deymon

  “If you would just shut your mouth for one second, and stop thinking stupid things, you might hear a thing or two,” he said, sounding irritated.

  He was killing me.

  I stood up, and just stared at the city from frustration. He was right though, I needed to relax, but how could I be relaxed? I had a huge responsibility on my shoulder.

  “I don’t get it,” I said, feeling down and disappointed “Why was I chosen? I can’t even fight, so what’s so great about me?”

  “Why do you think so little of yourself, Erick?” he said while he stood right next to me. One thing I loved about my grandfather was that he always listened. He knew when to ask the right questions, and most importantly, he always had the right answers.

  “Because I’m always afraid. How can I possibly save the world, if all I do is live in fear? I feel like this was a mistake, and I’m going to fail you guys,” I replied, saddened.

  “To be afraid does not mean you will fail.” My grandfather spoke kindly while smiling. “It means you’re not perfect. It means you make mistakes, just like everyone else does. Fear is a normal and common human emotion that we cannot control. It is a way to overcome what we cannot understand. It is a way to test our strengths, from our weaknesses and in some cases, a way to challenge ourselves to be better. I believe to learn from our mistakes is to be courageous. You don’t need to know how to fight to win battles. The Creator didn’t choose you to be tough or intimidating. He chose you simply because of who you are.”

  I let those words sink in.

  “Promise yourself something, Erick,” he continued. "Promise yourself, that no matter how scared, lost, discouraged, or even hopeless you might find yourself, you’ll never give up.”

  “How can I promise that? I’m useless, I’m not like The Others,” I said, discouraged.

  “Because, unlike The Others, you have the greatest heart, and the mightiest soul. That alone is the most powerful weapon you could ever use, against Satu or any demon.”

  When he said those words, I felt something inside of me and I felt energized. Those words really went straight to my heart and spirit.

  That’s because he was right. I couldn’t live in fear all my life, I had to be more positive, I had to start believing in myself, and my guardians. So, I made myself that promise, that no matter what happens, I was never going to give up.

  “Thanks for understanding,” I said, feeling better.

  “Don’t thank me, this is what I’m here for.”

  “So, should we start over?” I asked with a smile.

  “Of course!” We both sat down again. I started with the breathing, then relaxing, and then clearing my mind and listening to my soul. Unknowingly, I went into a deep, meditative state of mind. There was a powerful rush of energy flowing through my body the whole time. An image of Earth popped up in my mind.

  Earth! It had been a long time since I’d seen that world. I wonder what’s happening out there. Was it the futuristic world we’ve all seen on TV? Had my parents gone back to New York safely? Had Satu conquered the whole world already? Did Kate Anderson ever get married?

  Matheus told me it’s only been a day since I walked through those gates. Time doesn’t really exist in the underworld, so I’m guessing everything was still normal back there. If I was lucky enough, I could still make it to the football game and show Mike my awesome skills.

  “Holy crap!” I shouted, opening my eyes.

  I remembered everything, even something Larry had told me before I had gone on that trip the day before.

  I remembered it clearly!

  It was like a film being played over and over, right before my eyes. It was the answer I was searching for.

  ‘When you’re finally ready, come find me... We’ll get The Others.’

  Matheus and my grandpa both smiled at each other. They knew this was supposed to happen.

  “You’re almost ready!” Pops said. “Let’s go!”

  Detarru Island

  “Ethasus is back,” Oliver informed him.

  Satu was quietly standing by the gates like he was expecting someone. He turned to Oliver, and gently nodded.

  “Good! Are my men ready?”

  “Yes, my Lord.”

  “Have my army commence an attack in the city at once. I want everything destroyed,” Satu ordered.

  Oliver obediently went to gather his army, while Satu, with a wicked plan in mind, walked through The Gates of Hell, and disappeared into the underworld.

  Chapter 12

  Earth

  “Run to third, Patrick, run!” Larry screamed at Patrick from the benches.

  Bruce, Larry, Patrick, Luis and Jimmy were all at the school playing a game against Mike’s team.

  “I’m running, I’m running!” Patrick shouted back, as he ran to third base. It was a bit difficult for him, since he was a little overweight. As he ran, he kept looking back, making sure he knew where the ball was. One of Mike’s players in left field dropped the ball, which made this his chance to score.

  “Don’t stop, keep going!” Jimmy instructed.

  Patrick ran as fast as he could.

  He made it to third, but kept running to home. Left field player quickly threw the ball to Mike, who was pitching. Mike saw Patrick was halfway to scoring, so he ran after him. He was only inches away when Mike picked him up and slammed him on the ground, hard.

  Patrick looked dead after that one.

  “Touchdown! Woohoo! Hehe!” Mike screamed victoriously. The rest of his team were enjoying and celebrating that too.

  “Mike, this isn’t football, idiot!” Jimmy screamed at him.

  Mike didn’t really care.

  “Patricio! Dale un trompon al cara de fuiche ese.” Luis also said, in his Dominican slang.

  “What?!” Patrick finally was showing signs of life.

  “I said, punch him back!” Luis translated.

  “Okay,” he replied while still lying on the ground, not moving. He thought all of his bones were crushed.

  Bruce came over and helped him up.

  “Are you okay, man?”

  “No,” Patrick replied.

  “I told you guys, this game is for sissies, I want to play a real game,” Mike said with boredom.

  “Yeah, well me too. I can’t wait till Erick beats you this weekend,” Larry countered with a smirk on his face.

  “Me neither,” came a voice from behind the fence.

  Everyone looked back in awe.

  “Maybe he’ll shut you up already,” the stranger said, sitting on the bench. Everyone stepped back horrified.

  “What is up with you nerds? You’re acting like you’ve never seen a girl before.”

  They kept staring at her, as if she was some kind of goddess.

  “What are you doing here?” Larry asked.

  “What do you think? I’m here to watch you lose. Do you have a problem?”

  “Ah, yeah? Your face is the problem,” Larry argued.

  “Chill Larry, that’s no way to treat such beauty,” Mike interrupted.

  “Fine, I’ll leave, but I’m telling Mom that you’ve been skipping summer school,” she responded mischievously. One thing she was good at was being very manipulative of her brother.

  “Of course you can stay, Kate. I didn’t mean what I said, I was only kidding,” he lied, with a fake smile.

  “Much better,” she said satisfied.

  “So? Sexy lady!” Mike continued, barging in the conversation. “How’s my honey bun doing?”

  Kate glanced at Mike in disgust. “Actually, I’ve changed my mind.” She started walking back home, but Mike grabbed her arm.

  “Stay a little while, I’m about to start a real game with my boys.”

  “Get lost, Mike.”

  “You’re hurting my feel
ings.”

  “Mike! I said buzz off!” She shoved him aside.

  “Oh come on, baby, don’t be like that,” he begged.

  “I’m not your baby, and you’re pathetic,” she said displeased, while walking ahead of him. He stopped for a bit, realizing how true that was. Yet it was still Kate, the hottest girl in school.

  He didn’t care.

  “Kate?! Wait for me!” He ran after her, trying to catch up.

  “Dude, Mike is way too obsessed with your sister. Aren’t you going to say something?” Luis said, walking up to Larry, who was getting his football gear ready.

  “Nope, no need,” Larry replied, calmly and not bothered.

  “Jesus, Kate, what would you do that for?” Mike grunted in pain. Kate had kicked him between his legs, hardcore. As Kate walked away, he came back to the field slowly, and sat by the bleachers, still rubbing his privates.

  “I just love the sound of karma,” Patrick said, pleased.

  Mike didn’t respond. He was in way too much in pain to even bother.

  “Alright! Who’s ready for a new game?” Jimmy asked amused.

  Home

  It was good to be back!

  Earth was so different compared to Paradise. There was something different about being here though, and it was strange. I felt alive again, felt really thirsty and strangely hungry all of a sudden. So much that I was about to faint.

  Welcome back.

  “I thought the only way out was through Inferno,” I supposed, holding on to Matheus while he flew over my neighborhood.

  “Good heavens, Dumbo, that would’ve been catastrophic,” my grandfather said, also holding on next to me.

  “Why?”

  “Someone gave the order to have us killed. I was told that every demon is searching for you down there, for a high price. I know this was Satu’s doing, for sure.”

  GULP.

  The sun was out, and the sky was clear. What a beautiful day to be back. We landed right in front of my house. The area was clear, and there were no neighbors around. Matheus took advantage of the opportunity, and transformed himself back into the German Shepherd he used to be.

  How cool was that?

  I stood in front of my house, and just stared at it in wonder. It looked so different. I was away for so long in the underworld, I didn’t recognize my own home anymore. I was about to walk up to my porch when I accidentally bumped into someone. I was so distracted with the house, I forgot to watch where I was going.

  “Hey! Watch where you’re going, jerk!” the girl said, agitated.

  When I turned to apologize, my stomach shrunk. I felt a sting all over my body. The girl had a hot pink t-shirt on, with white shorts and white sneakers. She had beautiful long brown hair in a ponytail, and a curvaceous perfect body. She gave me a mean glare with those amazing blue eyes of hers.

  I just couldn’t believe it. It was Kate Anderson!

  “I’m sorry, I—I didn’t see you there, are you okay?” I said, trying to recover.

  She didn’t respond, and just stared me down. Her eyes were so intimidating, she had me looking away a few times. When I looked down for a moment, I finally understood why she was staring at me like a pile of poop. For starters, I had sandals on, with high water pants, and a white shirt made out of some celestial material.

  Way to go, Erick! Definitely a great way to impress, dork.

  “Umm, hi! I’m Erick. I moved here a few days ago,” I stammered, extending my hand. She took it, but didn’t introduce herself. I already knew who she was either way.

  “It’s nice to meet you. Do you live around here?” I asked, still trying to make conversation. She nodded, finally, but I was feeling a little awkward.

  Was she anti-social? Or maybe she hated me for even talking to her with sandals on.

  “You’re the new kid everyone is talking about? Right?” she said at last.

  People were talking about me? I hope it wasn’t in a bad way, and I sure hope it wasn’t about my secret identity.

  “They are? What are people saying?” I asked, a little worried.

  “That you’re playing against Mike on Friday. I totally want to see that!”

  “Oh! Well, I guess that’s me,” I said, not so thrilled.

  “Don’t worry, I’ll be cheering for ya!” she said smiling, patting me on the back.

  “I’m glad!” I responded, with a shrug, smiling back.

  “I’m Kate,” she finally introduced herself. “I live next door to you.”

  My heart stopped. Did she just say next door to me? She pointed at the white house, next to mine.

  “You live there?” I asked, confused.

  “Yeah, why? Is that surprising?” She lifted an eyebrow.

  That was so sexy.

  “Oh, nothing, it’s just that, I thought my friend lived there. I guess he must have moved out or something,” I said scratching the back of my head, still puzzled.

  “You mean Larry?” she asked, while rolling her eyes.

  I nodded.

  “That’s my older brother.”

  “Wow! Really? He forgot to mention he had such a beautiful little sister,” I said playfully, but man, how I meant it.

  “Thank you,” she said smiling.

  She was perfect!

  Cough, cough.

  I heard someone clear their throat. I looked behind me, and it was my grandfather and Matheus watching how I made a fool of myself. I totally forgot they were even there.

  “Umm, Kate! This is my grandfather, and this is Mathe—umm, dog, er—Milo,” I faltered. They both waved at her.

  “Hello,” she said waving back. “Hehe, your dog is so cute. He waved at me!”

  “He what?”

  “He waved at me. That was pretty cool.” I looked at Matheus, who winked at me smiling.

  That idiot! Can he be any more obvious?

  “Oh! Yeah, he’s one of a kind, isn’t he?” I said, with a phony smile “You should see him do other tricks, like climbing up trees and things.”

  “Your dog climbs trees?” she said with an odd smile.

  I think Matheus knew where I was going with this. I winked back at him, smiling mischievously. I could tell he was ready to bite my head off, but he kept it cool.

  I was enjoying myself.

  “Here Milo, here boy!” I mocked. “Come here, buddy”

  Surprisingly, he did come to me. I asked him to sit, and he obediently sat too.

  Kate was impressed.

  “Who’s a good boy? Now, show Kate how you climb a tree,” I said. He never tried to climb the tree like I expected though. Instead, he lifted his hind leg, and started peeing on me. I felt the warm liquid running down my feet and sandals.

  EWW GROSS!

  I was really going to kill that dog. As I kicked him away, I heard my grandfather laughing behind us.

  “Well, he sure owned you,” Kate mocked, while laughing hysterically. She had the most beautiful smile, which kept me staring, and I couldn’t help it.

  What a beauty.

  She made me forget about Matheus and had me smiling too. Matheus sat right next to Kate, and she gently rubbed his head.

  I noticed his grin.

  “Why are his eyes red?” she asked. I really didn’t have an answer to that, so I decided to get some retribution.

  “Uh, he’s umm… sick.”

  “Sick?” she said, with this facial expression of disgust. She slowly took her hand off him.

  “Yeah, he’s got pink eye. It’s highly contagious.”

  Matheus wasn’t enjoying this one.

  “But, his eyes, they’re glowing—” she exclaimed, still wondering.

  “Yeah, the uh… animal eye-drops, they really have some epic side effects.”

  “You are quite a f
unny guy,” she said, giggling.

  “I try.”

  “Well, I gotta go now, umm, it was nice meeting you, Erick.”

  “Same here, Kate, uh, see you around,” I said, still staring at her as she walked away.

  She was about to walk inside the house when she stopped for a moment, to take one last peek at me then went inside.

  “Did you guys see that?” I said excited. “She looked back at me!”

  “So what, that doesn’t mean anything,” Matheus responded.

  “Maybe for you,” I said. “Besides, you’re just hating because I’m a ladies’ man.”

  “Absolutely!” my grandfather broke in. “My good looks do run in the family!”

  “Oh God, here we go again,” Matheus said, rolling his eyes, not wanting to hear it.

  “You see, I remember back in my day—”

  “Uh, Pops?”

  “Yeah?”

  “I’m sure you were a gorgeous supermodel then, but can we save the world first?”

  “Oh, right.”

  Mom had placed a spare key under a flowerpot. I got the key and unlocked the door, and we all went inside. The house was empty. I guess my parents were still stuck on the island. I ran straight into the kitchen fridge, and made myself a gigantic ham and cheese sandwich.

  That was really good.

  I felt like I hadn’t eaten in days. I also felt so thirsty, I almost drank a whole gallon of water. After my meal, I headed upstairs, changed into regular clothes, then went downstairs to meet up with Pops and Matheus who were outside, discussing our next plan.

  Something was wrong.

  Earth started to tremble underneath us.

  “What was that?” I asked. We all ran down on Sunnyside Street, and saw the neighbors trying to find out what was happening too.

  There was an explosion, followed by screams. A nearby building just exploded in pieces. Another explosion was heard, then another nearby.

  We were being attacked.

  I saw Kate running out of her house, and she looked scared. She saw me standing in the middle of the street, and ran towards me.

  “What’s happening?” she shouted.

  “I don’t know.”

  Another explosion blew up a car nearby, and a few people got hurt. I ran over to help them, but they were injured really badly. There was an older guy who had severe burns on his arms and legs, and there was a young woman lying unconscious on the ground. Together, Kate and I dragged them away from the burning vehicle. Other neighbors tried to help by treating their wounds.